The objective of the project is to develop and test the reliability and validity of a method for assessing the quality of care provided to patients seen in the emergency room with burn or vehicular injuries. The project focus is upon the assessment technique called the Quality of Care Index which was conceived in an earlier study. This index is derived by procuring the difference between ratings given by physicians for each patient for actual as compared to expected number and severity of complications. The hypothesis is that the more the indices at a given institution indicate that actual complications exceed expected complications, the worse the care. Conversely, the more expected complications exceed actual complications, the better the care. The steps being taken in this project to validate an instrument for measuring quality of care are significant in continuing measurement and improvement of health care delivery.